contacts-mcp

Local MCP server that exposes Apple Contacts data through a Contacts.framework helper app.

Built entirely by OpenAI GPT-5.4 via Codex.

Install

git clone https://github.com/<your-account>/contacts-mcp.git
cd contacts-mcp
./bootstrap.sh

Related MCP server: apple-mcp

Run

npm run start

Permissions

Run contacts_permissions once with prompt: true.

The helper app is intended to be built with the project's normal code signing so macOS can attribute Contacts access to a stable app identity.

If the prompt does not appear from inside Codex, launch the helper app directly once:

open ContactsMCPHelperApp/build/Build/Products/Release/ContactsMCPHelperApp.app

When opened directly, the app will request Contacts access and show a status alert. After that initial grant, the MCP tools can read visible contacts normally.

Lookup behavior is intentionally narrow: contacts_lookup_phone, contacts_lookup_email, and contacts_search_name return zero or more ranked matches, contacts_get_contact fetches one unified contact by identifier, and the server does not expose any write path.

Phone lookup uses the framework predicate first, then falls back to canonical digit matching when needed. Email lookup uses the framework predicate first, then falls back to exact case-insensitive comparison. Name search uses the framework name predicate first, then backfills ranked matches across full name, nickname, organization, and component fields when needed.

MCP config

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "contacts": {
      "command": "node",
      "args": ["/absolute/path/to/contacts-mcp/dist/index.js"],
      "env": {
        "CONTACTS_MCP_HELPER_APP_PATH": "/absolute/path/to/contacts-mcp/ContactsMCPHelperApp/build/Build/Products/Release/ContactsMCPHelperApp.app"
      }
    }
  }
}

Verify

npm run verify